Burkina Faso troops and French forces deployed to Operation Barkhane during Operation Bourgou IV, November 2019. Image: État-major des armées.
SEPTEMBER 6, 2023. Fifty-three members of the security forces have been killed in an attack by suspected jihadists in northern Burkina Faso, the army said on Tuesday.
Seventeen soldiers and 36 civilian volunteers for the army died on Monday while repelling an “attack,” the army general staff said in a statement.
The unit which came under attack was deployed in the town of Koumbri in Yatenga province to enable the resettlement of residents chased out of the area by jihadists more than two years ago, it said.
About 30 members of the security forces were also injured in the attack, the army added.
It said that several attackers had been “neutralised” in a counter-operation and their combat equipment destroyed.
Operations are still under way in the area, it said.
Burkina Faso saw two military coups last year, motivated by anger at failures to stem a jihadist insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives since spilling over from neighbouring Mali in 2015.
More than 16,000 civilians, troops and police have died in jihadist attacks, according to an NGO count, including more than 5,000 since the start of this year.
More than two million people have also been displaced within Burkina Faso, making it one of the worst internal displacement crises in Africa.
Since 2015, Burkina Faso has endured a relentless wave of jihadist attacks, with over 16,000 casualties, including civilians, troops, and police, according to data compiled by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED).
Alarmingly, more than 5,000 deaths have occurred just this year alone. The crisis has also forced more than two million people to flee their homes within Burkina Faso, constituting one of the most severe internal displacement crises in Africa.
This recent tragedy follows a string of attacks in Burkina Faso. On June 26, 31 soldiers and 40 auxiliaries lost their lives in three separate attacks in the Centre-North province.
In August, two attacks in the Centre-East province claimed the lives of five police officers and approximately 20 others. While the authorities claim to have “neutralized” more than 65 jihadists between August 7 and September 1, the security situation remains precarious.
Burkina Faso, a nation plagued by persistent instability, experienced two military coups in the past year. These coups were driven by growing frustration with the government’s inability to quell the jihadist insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives, paralleling the situations in neighboring Mali and Niger.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional organization, swiftly condemned the attack. In a statement, ECOWAS expressed shock over the deaths of soldiers and civilian volunteers and condemned the “terrorist attacks.” The organization also expressed its solidarity with the Burkinabe people.
However, it’s important to note that Burkina Faso was already suspended from ECOWAS earlier this year following the military’s seizure of power, adding another layer of complexity to the already dire situation.